Policy & Law - Undocumented Workers

In this tenth installment of the “Border Views” video series, Martha Menchaca, professor in the Department of Anthropology, discusses her research into the trends and historical context behind naturalization and the birthright movement and her thoughts on curbing undocumented migration from Mexico to the United States.

Lynn said on March 25, 2011 at 11:51 a.m.Very interesting and insightful series! To Shewnka, what is your definition of refugee? From what I know, refugees migrate not by choice, but only after being forced from their homes for various reasons. I would argue that many Latin Americans are refugees whether or not they officially hold the title or not. Just look at the numbers of Mexicans who have been forced from their homes on the U.S. border by drug cartels who wanted their land. You are right that most immigrants in the U.S. come from Latin America, but it is not by U.S. bias, it is simply due to proximity. European countries are facing a huge influx of Northern African and Middle Eastern immigrants, again due to proximity, not bias. As for your comment on adjusting immigration quotas, we have seen in the past the U.S.'s immigration quotas do little to affect immigration from Mexico. I do agree with you that there should be a video on current immigration to the U.S. from other non L.A. countries, but did you watch the video on Chinese immigration? Very interesting.